Never Too Late
by Elektra1
Summary: InuYasha makes one fatal mistake. Can he go back and fix it before it's too late?
1. Part One

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NEVER TOO LATE

PART 1

It was all a dream. At least, that's what he told himself. It was a horrible dream. No. A nightmare. Yes... that must be it! A nightmare! Kagome wasn't really gone. No. She couldn't be! Not after everything they'd been through! Losing Kikyou was bad enough. He couldn't lose Kagome too!! 

Everything was a blur -- The room, the people around him, the somber music... and the small urn on a pedestal. 

"InuYasha..." a voice whispered quietly behind him. His body was numb, but he managed to turn to the voice. "InuYasha... this wasn't supposed to happen!" It was a gentle female voice... but all InuYasha could see was a ghostly outline of a body. He stared dumbly at the apparition, realizing that of all the people in the room, HE was the only one seeing it. The voice continued, "You have to change it!" 

InuYasha blinked, finally finding his voice, "how?" he asked quietly, "how can I change it?" 

"Do you remember what happened??" the apparition said. "Think back. What happened? What lead to this?!" 

InuYasha closed his eyes... and thought back.... 

* * *

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ONE MONTH AGO 

InuYasha and Kagome were fighting. It was the same argument they always had. Kagome wanted to return home for a few days. InuYasha wouldn't hear of it. 

"You know, I'm sick of having this argument with you all the time! You KNOW why I have to go home!! Why are you being so stubborn?!" 

"The longer we delay searching for the shikon shards, then the better chance a demon has of grabbing them!" InuYasha said. 

Kagome fumed. Yes. He was right.. but it wasn't fair to her! She never asked for this destiny! She didn't want any part of it! "I'm starting to RESENT looking for the stupid jewel shards!! What would you do if I left and never came back, huh?! GEEZ! I HAVE to go back home once in a while, InuYasha!! Or should I just leave in the middle of the night and NEVER come back??!!" 

"If you did that, I'd hunt you down!" InuYasha replied. 

"Then I'd run away! I'd run away and you'd never find me!!" Kagome snapped. 

"Try it!" he challenged. 

"You know, maybe I will!! Every time I want to go home, you give me a hard time about it!" Kagome replied, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "Can't you understand?? I can't DO this all the time!! I just want to be a normal girl!! I want to have friends! I want to do well in school! I don't want to run around the past looking for jewel shards! I can't do it! I just can't! I need to have a break once in a while!!" 

"FORGET IT!" InuYasha snapped, "You can't! We have to find the jewel shards!" 

"I'm not saying that I won't help you... but I need to take a rest! Just for a few days! PLEASE... please understand!" 

"NO!!" InuYasha snapped. "I'm not going to give up my search just so your weak little human body can take a rest for a few days!" 

By now, the tears flowed freely from Kagome's eyes, and anger filled her heart, "YOUR search?!? Is that what this is all about?? YOU?!?! YOU want the jewel shards??! Forget about protecting the rest of the world... forget about worn-out Kagome, who asks for nothing more then a few days rest!! As long as YOU get the shards, then that's all that matters, is that it??!!" Kagome snapped, her voice fierce. "FINE!! I'll leave you to your stupid search!!! Have fun finding the shards without me!!" she shouted, then ran to the Well and jumped in. 

InuYasha just stood there. "Feh! Stupid girl!" 

Shippou, who had watched all this from a distance, decided to finally speak up, "Shouldn't you go after her??" the Kitsune asked. 

"NO!! She'll be back!!" InuYasha snapped angrily. 

"Are you sure..?? She seemed really upset...." 

"SHUT UP before I skin you!! LEAVE me alone! Kagome will be back!! Now go away!" 

Shippou simply looked at InuYasha, "You know.. sometimes you really are a jerk..." he replied, then ran away before the dog-demon could attack him. 

"SHE'LL COME BACK!" InuYasha shouted to the vanishing kitsune, then stared at the Well. His voice became quiet, "She HAS to..." 

* * *

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PRESENT 

"She didn't come back..." InuYasha said to the ghostly outline in front of him, "She would never come back again..." 

* * *

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ONE WEEK AGO 

"She's been gone for three weeks!" InuYasha muttered angrily. "She's never been gone this long!!" 

"Then why don't you go find her?!" Myouga the flea offered. 

"Feh! Not after that argument we had!" 

"You can be very stubborn sometimes, Master..." 

"Not as stubborn as Kagome!!" InuYasha replied. 

Myouga decided to change the subject. "Master... have you noticed an sudden surge of demon activity near the Well?" he asked. "I think they may have a few shikon shards within them..." 

"What do you want ME to do about it?? I can't sense the jewel shards, Myouga!! That's KAGOME'S job!" InuYasha replied. 

"But.. shouldn't you perhaps do something??' Myouga asked. 

"They present no threat to me... and I won't waste my time and energy unless I know for sure they have the jewel shards!" 

"But if Kagome tries to return, they may attack her! Why don't you go get her? You can take care of the demons at the Well that way!" 

"NO!" was InuYasha's reply. "Now don't ask me anymore!" Myouga decided it was a lost cause, and headed off to find some food. _Damnit, Kagome! Where are you..._ InuYasha thought. He was getting concerned. Did she mean it when she said she would never come back?? No... she must be tied up with that thing she called 'school'. Surely she wouldn't just leave him like that... would she? "I'll give her a few more days... then I'll get rid of the demons by the Well and drag her back.." InuYasha said to himself, "Just a few more days..." 

* * *

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PRESENT 

"And I waited..." InuYasha told the apparition. "I waited too long..." 

"InuYasha?? How dare you come here!!" a familiar voice said fiercely. InuYasha looked at the person who had come up beside him. She looked twenty years older then the last time he had seen her ... but he knew she had aged less then a year. 

"Hello, Mrs. Higurashi..." InuYasha said, his voice quiet and void of emotion. 

The woman's face was harsh, "You have no right to be here!! It was your fault!" she cried, "My baby is gone... and it's all your fault!! You didn't come back for her, you MONSTER!! You should have known...!!" Mrs. Higurashi began screaming, and her fists began flying in InuYasha's direction. He didn't try to block the attack. He knew he deserved it. He deserved all of it. "YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!" Mrs. Higurashi screamed, then her body became racked with sobs. 

"Momma?? Are you ok??" It was Sota. He quickly ran up and put an arm around his mother. He looked at InuYasha. Eyes that used to be so happy upon seeing his hero now looked angry and full of hatred. He said nothing as he lead his mother to a nearby seat. 

InuYasha hung his head as an indescribable pain filled his heart. Then he noticed something on the ground. It was a picture of Kagome. Mrs. Higurashi had dropped it in her fit of rage. 

InuYasha carefully picked it up, and looked at it. Kagome was smiling, so full of life... so full of hope. Hope that he had once had too. Hope that perhaps things would be different this time... but his hope had died with Kagome. 

He was only grateful he hadn't seen her after the attack.... 

* * *

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2 DAYS AGO 

Kagome was running for her life. This wasn't right!! Not here! Not now!!! Demons only existed back in InuYasha's time.. didn't they?! But the demons that chased her seemed powerful. TOO powerful. As if their powers had been enhanced by the Shikon jewel shards! 

She had planned to go back that day. Enough was enough. It had been almost a month! InuYasha was obviously too immature to come apologize, so she would take the first step. 

The demons that spewed forth from the Well hadn't been part of the deal! 

Kagome ran as fast as she could, trying to get away from the demons that chased her. Soon, her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed. 

Kagome covered her head and screamed in agony as demonic claws began to rip through her. 

When it was over, the body was barely recognizable. 

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To Be Continued[][1]

   [1]: NeverTooLatePT2.html



	2. Part Two - Conclusion

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NEVER TOO LATE

PART 2

PRESENT 

"Myouga was right..." the strange apparition started, her voice quiet and sad. "The demons attacked Kagome..." 

"Yes.. and I didn't listen to his warning," InuYasha hung his head, "How can I ever forgive myself?! How could I let my stubbornness cost Kagome her life...?!" 

"If you could do it again, would you go after her?" the apparition asked. 

"YES!" InuYasha replied, his voice hoarse with emotion. "If it meant saving Kagome, I would go after her. I would even apologize!! I would do anything!! As long as I could get her back!" 

The apparition in front of InuYasha became clearer. Soon, he could see a face. A beautiful, sweet face. He looked at the picture in his hand. Yes. It was the same face. InuYasha's eyes went wide as he turned back to the apparition. The beautiful spirit smiled, "Then it can be undone. What was not meant to be can be undone..." 

"K-Kagome..?" InuYasha gasped. 

The figure shook her head, and InuYasha noticed hair longer then Kagome's had ever been. Upon closer inspection, the face - though so much like Kagome's - was not hers either. It was a face from his past. 50 years in his past, "I am not Kagome, " the gentle voice said, "but I am inside her, InuYasha. I am always inside her. You lost ME once. I could not let you lose HER too..." 

A bright flash of light blinded InuYasha briefly. Then... it faded. In a split second, InuYasha found himself back in front of the Well... 

* * *

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ONE MONTH AGO 

"Every time I want to go home, you give me a hard time about it!" Kagome replied, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "Can't you understand?? I can't DO this all the time!! I just want to be a normal girl!! I want to do well in school! I don't want to run around the past looking for jewel shards! I can't do it! I just can't! I need to have a break once in a while!!" 

InuYasha blinked. For a second, he felt disoriented and dizzy. He took a moment to look around... trying to focus again. 

"WELL?" Kagome pressed. 

InuYasha finally turned his attention to her, and remembered what they were arguing about. "FORGET IT!" he snapped, "You can't! We have to find the jewel shards!" 

"I'm not saying that I won't help you... but I need to take a rest! Just for a few days! PLEASE... please understand!" 

"NO!!" InuYasha replied. "I'm not going to give up my search just so..." he stopped. Why did this seem so familiar to him?? 

He looked at Kagome, confused... and noticed tears flowing freely from her usually bright eyes, "YOUR search?!?" She started, "Is that what this is all about?? YOU?!?! YOU want the jewel shards??! Forget about protecting the rest of the world... forget about worn-out Kagome, who asks for nothing more then a few days rest! As long as YOU get the shards, then that's all that matters, is that it??!!" Kagome snapped, her voice fierce. "FINE!! I'll leave you to your stupid search!!! Have fun finding the shards without me!!" she shouted, then ran to the Well and jumped in. 

InuYasha stared at the Well... and suddenly a great fear seized him. Images of her scarred and bloody body flashed in his mind. A strange sense of dread... of possibly losing Kagome forever... weighed heavily in his heart. No!! He couldn't lose her!! 

Shippou, who had watched all this from a distance, decided to finally speak up, "Shouldn't you go after her??" the Kitsune asked. 

InuYasha turned to him, and blinked.. wondering where the strange feeling and images had come from, "Yes..." he said quietly. "I have to go after her... " 

Shippou was surprised. He wasn't expecting InuYasha to be so agreeable! It was good sign. 

InuYasha quickly ran to the Well, and jumped in. 

* * *

"Kagome.. WAIT!" InuYasha shouted as he crawled out of Kagome's side of the Well. Kagome stopped in her tracks. 

_He followed me?? He actually followed me?!_ she thought, surprised. "What is it??" she asked aloud. 

InuYasha said nothing as he walked up to her. In a swift movement, he grabbed her and hugged her. "I understand..." he said. "I'd rather have you leave once in a while then never come back again..." 

Kagome was taken aback. A sudden change of heart from the stubborn youkai?! How was that possible?! And... WHY was he HUGGING her??! "I'm sorry for blowing up like that," she started, a little flustered at InuYasha's actions. "I mean... I WOULD come back. I'd always come back... but..." 

InuYasha quickly let go of her and stepped back, "For some reason... I had the strangest feeling that you WOULDN'T come back..." he furrowed his brow in confusion, "I don't understand.. but this strange image of you filled my head and..." he didn't finish his sentence. 

Kagome smiled, "You were really worried that I wouldn't come back??" she asked. 

"I..." he couldn't explain it. "Feh. Whatever. How long are you planning on staying here??" he asked. 

"Just until the end of the week..." Kagome explained. 

"Ok.. I'll come and get you at the end of the week!" he said. 

"I SAID I'd come back!! You don't have to come get me, you know!" Kagome snapped. 

"Yes I do!" InuYasha replied. "It's safer that way!" Kagome didn't know what he was talking about, but quickly realized he was speaking out of concern rather then lack of trust. 

InuYasha didn't dare tell Kagome about the horrible image he suddenly had of demons laying in wait for her. Demons that only HE could destroy. He didn't even know where that image had come from! 

"Ok... come get me at the end of the week then..." she replied. 

InuYasha nodded, and headed back through the Well. Kagome smiled. Even though InuYasha didn't come right out and apologize, she knew what he meant. 

Now it was time for Kagome to have a few days of rest and relaxation... _and to catch up on my homework_ she thought, groaning inwardly. Then she remembered InuYasha's hug - and the concern in his voice when he insisted on escorting her back through the Well. She smiled once again. 

For once, she was looking forward to returning to her mission. 

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T H E E N D


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